Hemp clothing project: A shirt made out of hemp cloth
Visit your local craft market and check out some things made of hemp. What do hemp clothes feel like? What about hemp rope? Hemp shoes? Do they have anything made out of hemp plastic? Just as many things in the ancient world were made out of straw, a lot of things could also be made from hemp – hats, bed mats, floor coverings, pillows, and shoes.
Or, if there’s no craft market near you, click on the picture to order a hemp shirt from Amazon. What does the shirt feel like? How would you like to wear hemp clothing? Does it feel different from your cotton clothes? How?
Did this hemp clothing project work for you? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments!
More about Hemp
Bibliography and further reading about hemp:
Warm As Wool, Cool As Cotton, by Carter Houck (1986). For kids – includes the history of these fibers.
World Textiles: A Concise History, by Mary Schoeser (2003). For adults.
Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years : Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times, by Elizabeth Wayland Barber (1995). Not for kids, but an interested high schooler could read it. Fascinating ideas about the way people made cloth in ancient times, and why it was that way.
